The present invention relates to the field of upper body garments and, more particularly, to such a garment worn while engaged in the playing of sports which provides warmth to the wearer with increased freedom of motion.
In order to provide the necessary warmth during outdoor activities in cold weather, it has been customary to wear various over garments such as jackets, sweatshirts, vests, shirts or sweaters. The use of these types of garments inhibits bodily motion especially during sports activities such as golf or tennis where the arms are swung across the torso. The bulk of such outer garments restricts the force and speed of the player's motion and also alters the synchronization between the movement of the arms, torso and legs resulting in a degradation in the wearer's performance.
Sports, such as tennis or golf require an extended range of motion in the player's arms as the swing is made. One problem with prior art garments is due to their design, where a heavy single thickness of material is used for both the torso and sleeve sections. The material between the wearer's arms and torso adds bulk thereby inhibiting freedom in the swinging motion which degrades the wearer's playing ability. Attempts to eliminate binding created by the relatively thick material of the garment are made by wearing a garment one or more sizes larger than necessary for a normal fit which is not aesthetically pleasing nor desirable from a performance standpoint.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,105,478, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference, discloses a shirt having relatively narrow mesh panels under the wearer's arms to provide additional ventilation. The panels are made of material with a high degree of ventilation which is shown in the disclosure as elongated mesh inserts disposed along the seams of the shirt body and each sleeve. In addition, a portion of non-mesh material is disposed under the back of the wearer's arms to absorb perspiration. The purpose of the garment is to provide relief from hot weather. No reference is made to a variation in thickness of the different sections of the shirt to facilitate freedom of movement and thus, this garment would exhibit the same swing inhibiting characteristics as other prior art garments.
One major problem with prior art garments is that to provide adequate thermal insulation for use in cold weather, the garments are made uniformly thick which inhibits freedom of motion during a golf or tennis swing.